 [ShadowsOfEurope] Kosherpickle's SoE review, Just a little at a time! |
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 Jul 18 2004, 01:06 AM
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Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921  |
Welcome to this thread concerning my review of Shadows of Europe. Given the length of the book, I felt it was necessary to slice the review up into multiple sections. We'll start out slow, and build the whole thing up.
A couple of things to keep in mind. I'm looking at each chapter individually, but I'm also using the associated Game Information for that chapter in the review, so the Game Information section will not have a review by itself. I also realize that information on certain topics will be found in multiple places in the book, so I'll do my best to take that into account. I haven't finished reading the entire thing yet, so keep that in mind as well. This is also not a review to critique writing errors. While I will take into account spelling, grammar, and syntax, this will not become an errata list. With that being said, let's get this party started. Part 1: You Mean There's More to the World Than North America?! This part deals with the chapter titled "The New Old World." I'm not really sure that anything I could say about the alternative future history of Europe would be more valid than the people who worked on this book. I did live in Europe for 9 years, but we've got people working on this book who've lived in their home countries for their entire lifetimes. I don't have a problem bowing to their knowledge of Europe, nor do I have a problem with the history they've created. The fact that history repeats itself in a way by recreating the European Union in the form of the New European Economic Community is okay. I think the word "New" will eventually become a little "old," however. Good move on the little info box on page 17. It has a close proximity to the map on page 14, allowing people to shift their attention back and forth between them, seeing what's where and providing focus. The corp list inside the box also gives us a glance at the names of certain corps before we even get any information on them, which is useful. I must admit that I'm a little disappointed that CEERS (Common European Electronic Registration System) isn't a humorous acronym in English, although it may be in some European language. No mention of what Europort is or does in this section of the book was confusing. I like the idea of the European Supreme Court, and the fact that it may conflict with the Corporate Court is well thought out. Does it seem lately that every alliance of different cultural districts inevitably leads to a joint military force? It happened in Denver, and it's occuring in Europe too. I do find it odd that among the sub-institutions, there's absolutely zero discussion of magic and magic users. The Corp section was more than adequate. More names of high ranking people in corps, more subsidiaries to use when determing who's going to be hiring shadowrunners, and blurbs on 16 European companies. (SK was mentioned with the Big 10, and Regulus Joint Industries was added to flesh out the number of AAs to 15; RJI is not a part of the NEEC.) A little surprised that Spinrad Industries didn't get mentioned much here, especially after the importance that seemed to be placed on Johnny Spinrad in Dragons of the Sixth World. I did eventually find more mention of Spinrad in the Portugal section, but even a little something here, possibly a note by Synner of where Spinrad info was would have been nice. Ah, Organized Crime. Where would Shadowrun be without you? A shadow war between the Vory and the Mafia is thrilling stuff, but I don't foresee a tracked adventure set dealing with, however. Don't get me wrong; if it was printed, I'd definitely buy it. Big story in this section has to be the N'drangheta. God-damn. The shadow comments hinted at it, and the Game Information confirmed it in a big way. I can definitely see someone attempting to run a campaign wherein a merc team goes to France to participate in the Vor Batukhtina vs. Milieu Marseillais conflict using information from SOTA: 2063 and this book. Europe's going to have its own view on magic, and I'm satisfied with what I see. The Wicca portion is short and general, and it seems to suggest "Hey, there's Wicca in Europe. Now go read Magic in the Shadows to make your [N]PC." The Street Witch concept seems very European to me, and makes a lot of sense. A Street Witch seems like something you could find in any European city. Ah, the Fey. A good resource that can be interpreted by a GM in any number of ways. It's a very flexible concept, and I like the tie-ins with Target: Awakened Lands. I don't know when Eastern Europe will have their chance to shine. I'd suggest a smaller Target: Eastern Europe book to take care of that. Apparently, Russia's also going to get the short end of the stick for Shadows of Asia, so maybe Target: Warsaw Pact? And how about our friends in Greece and Turkey? They have feelings too, you know! Final thoughts: Reading history is always a chore, so the fact that the first part was slow reading was fine with me. I think that trying to strike the balance between being informative and giving background information is very difficult to do, but it was done satisfactorily here. Directions to information elsewhere in the book for things like Europort and Spinrad Industries would have been nice. Ratings for the Eurocorps would have been extremely desirable, and hopefully Pistons will find a way to get those onto the website in due time. Unfortunately, the section has to suffer just a little bit for not having those ratings. 8/10 for the first section of the book. |
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Jul 18 2004, 11:15 AM
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
Thanks for the review KosherPickle. Just some passing comments:
There was indeed a need to balance the old with the new information and keep it concise, I'm sure the draft suffers from it but we tried to introduce a different take on many subjects to keep it interesting (such as the second front of the Jihad and explaining how the EuroWars fought mostly in Eastern Europe damaged Europe so much).
The subtle differences between the NEEC and the EU are the important ones. Europeans will probably realize the implications better than Americans because we are all too aware of the EU's advantages and failings and how the NEEC would compare. The corp's direct (and indirect) involvement for one is a major step in a new direction. However we were careful to keep this from spinning off into the realm of high politics and away from the shadows, and the ImpComms, Directorships, lobbying and games of power (with respective examples) should provide ideas on how to ground the "mighty" NEEC in the dark and dirty dealings of the SR underworld. Note that EuroForce (currently under discussion IRL) replaced NATO as European Defense force when the US and UK pull out, so it actually dates back to the 30's. EuroPol should provide a nasty shadow opponent if needed. BTW- CEERs isn't humorous but it sounds like seers which is appropriate in it's own way, since the CEER/SIN allows the right people to look into your life.
Just to note that after quite a bit of thought we decided on a different approach from the traditional corp writeups. This allowed us to give all the basics and also provide some hidden agendas and plothooks. Hope people like. You'll also find that like most of the material in these sections the corp stuff is threaded throughout the remaining chapters (ie. Proteus vs. Maersk => Scand Union, etc) Ahh, the dictates of wordcount. It was inevitable stick with the really big players. Spinrad Industries and several other up-and-comers were cut for length and because they weren't the biggest boys in the playground. SpIn was included elsewhere, others weren't. (note- this should put Nath's old Dumpshock signature in a whole new light :)) However the relevant stats and even the missing writeups exist and may appear soon.
Quite proud of this bit. Kudos to Molloy for his help in the early stages. I'm especially happy with the subplots (ie. Feretti's ultimate goal, the Red Vory vs. the Euro Vory and, of course, the N'drangheta syndicate).
There's a reason there's a section called EuroMagic in SOTA64 ;) Loads more useful material upcoming. We tried to cover all the basics here though and provide enough for GMs to build on but essentially to get a feeling for the differences in style between what they're used to and European magic. Now I'll just shut up and let you get on with the good work ;) |
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| Guest_Guest_* |
Jul 18 2004, 05:09 PM
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Guests |
I just have a few comments and questions that I would like to add. My first question is a little bit nitpicky. Overall I really like this section myself, even if it did feel a little long at times.
I hope that with these stats we will also get a conversion rate for the Nuyen to the Euro, and vice versa. It seems from SoE at least that the Euro is more common in Europe than the Nuyen. However I can't find a conversion rate between the euro and other currencies in SoE.
I have a minor complaint about the section awakened Europe. I just wanted more to it in this book, with more information given in the Game Information section. It can be difficult for GMs to wait until SOTA 64 in order to implemennt this new material. In the meantime it makes things difficult if the GM wishes to stick to canon material. As a GM I can take this section many ways, but I don't want canon to go some oppositte way in a few months to a year from now, and force me to make changes in my own campaign in order to stay with canon. I just feel the way this was presented, left the reader wanting more. Veracusse |
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Jul 18 2004, 05:29 PM
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Target Group: Members Posts: 55 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Shibanokuji Freefall Resort Member No.: 1,043 |
If nothing too drastic happens in the next 50 and some years, it ought to be 1:1. |
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Jul 18 2004, 05:52 PM
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King of the Hobos Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,117 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 127 |
Perhaps something to add to the Shadowrun site? :)
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Jul 18 2004, 07:11 PM
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 858 Joined: 25-August 03 From: Braunschweig, North German League, Allied German States Member No.: 5,537 |
According to the German books, €:¥ is in fact 1:1. I don't know if that info was taken into SoE but the various German books provided the following exchange rates: 1 Nuyen equals... - 1 Euro - 2 German Marks - 0.5 Swiss Franks |
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Jul 18 2004, 07:19 PM
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
In 2064 the nuyen to euro conversion rate is assumed to be 1:1, subject to a little fluctuation. This was mentioned originally in the European Central Bank subsection of the NEEC but may not have been in the final edited version (I haven't seen the printed book yet). The other exchange rates M¥$TIC quotes above are also correct, although only the most rabidly independent AGS states won't be using the Euro as equal currency.
Again, space was the decisive factor. We had a lot more material ready but wordcount simply didn't allow for detailed development. The goal here was to give you enough material to build on and to get a feel for the variety and in fact I'm not entirely sure this is a problem. The basic rules for playing Wiccans, Druids and Norse magicians, for instance, are all in Magic in the Shadows. Traditional witches and the hermetic schools mentioned in Prague and elsewhere are the only ones that might not be so easily playable right now. While SOTA64 will delve into what it actually means to be a neo-pagan (European) magician in the Sixth World, as well as cover some of the other variations and traditions mentioned in Awakened Europe it will build on the rules in MitS too. If there's anything you really need/want clarified of the material introduced herein, please start up a specific thread and we'll do our best to answer your doubts within the limits of our NDAs. However, according to the GenCon SR announcements, every effort is being made towards having SOTA64 ready for Origins (ie. next month). I'm sure you can wait just that extra time. |
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| Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_* |
Jul 18 2004, 07:31 PM
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Guests |
I presume that "seers" as you use it is (or should be) two syllables, which seems kind of counterintuitive to 9at least) my usage and natural pronunciation given that the closest word in my vocabulary to "seer(s)" is "seersucker," with the "seer" being one syllable.
And yet the dollar:nuyen rate is $4::nuyen:1 Damn Canucks, driving down the value of the dollar with their inferior currency. |
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Jul 18 2004, 10:09 PM
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 858 Joined: 25-August 03 From: Braunschweig, North German League, Allied German States Member No.: 5,537 |
According to the German books both Euro and Deutsche Mark are official currencies of the AGS. While Euro is used for all electronic transactions, foreign trade, trade between banks, etc., DM (hard currency) is used by the population for everyday payment. The black market especially likes the Mark - coins leave no data-trail... Did you change that situation in SoE? |
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Jul 18 2004, 10:30 PM
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
No, that's still the situation. However, not all the German member states are happy with the NEEC and what it entails, like opening borders and trade further (let's just say there was a certain scaly pressure to get the Bundestag/Bundesrat to sign independently of what all the Landtage might think), they're also pissed about Marienbad's defection but have their hands tied also because of the NEEC... so it's possible they'll make euro usage a little harder as a form of protest.
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Jul 19 2004, 03:50 PM
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
And now back to our regular broadcast...
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Jul 19 2004, 07:27 PM
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Target Group: Members Posts: 91 Joined: 13-March 03 From: Bunker Gate 7 [CaTCo Compound] Member No.: 4,248 |
:D |
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| Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_* |
Jul 19 2004, 10:09 PM
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Guests |
That wasn't supposed to be funny.
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Jul 19 2004, 10:16 PM
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 515 Joined: 10-April 04 From: Chicago, IL...Ich vermisse Deutschland. Member No.: 6,230 |
It also says before their descriptions that all the Eurocorps in the history chapter are AA.
Don |
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Jul 22 2004, 08:13 AM
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921 |
Certainly. Part 2: Sprechen sie Deutsch? This part deals with the Allied German States (AGS) and Austria. The AGS, in 2063, only has 11 members. A far cry from 1848, when the number hovered around three dozen. But there doesn't appear to be a Bismarck on the horizon, nor do the individual states seem to be looking forward to one. A good amount of space is devoted to Germany in this book, although it might not be enough detail for some people. Hey, the Germany Sourcebook is really cheap at Fast Forward right now. The set-up in the previous chapter allows for the reader to recognize certain groups and names, and may cause some flipping of the pages. Lots of "where did I see that?" moments. This mini-Roget's guide to Germany goes North, East, Central, West, and South, and so will I. I'll be honest, I had to look up "hanseatic" in the dictionary. It doesn't surprise me that a German city might have such a pompous word in its official name. ("hanse", by the way, a medieval merchant guild or trade association. "hanseatic" would therefore be the adjective form. Draw thine own conclusions. :)) Hamburg's definitely a corp town, and while other Shadowrun-related activities undoubtedly take place there, corp-related runs are the bread and butter. Kind of like Boston, but with less magic. It's also a port city, so pirates and aquaphiles will be taken care of. And the corps have noticed this. So, make sure to raid the ships in Bremen, too. If Hamburg equals "corp", Hannover definitely equals "politicos." Being the capital of the North German League tends to do that. An understated aspect of Hannover is annual Cybit Electronics and Computer Entertainment fair, and clever GMs will find a way to have a run involving an extraction or theft of some sort. Ah, another isolationist elven society. The best options for runs in the Duchy of Pomorya look like they involve Target: Wastelands, seeing as how the shores have toxic sludge on them. Pomorya doesn't really look very interesting otherwise. Racist elves in an isolationist society isn't really a new concept. Eastern Germany is full of border crossing opportunities. And while you're there, don't forget to pick up some nice cyber. Just make sure the Tamanous-wannabees (or maybe Tamanous has a branch over here) don't slice and dice you. And if you wander into Saxony, make sure you don't make the wrong person "demand satisfaction." Over a hundred years later, and nothing changes. Berlin is again a city divided. Wasn't there a poster earlier in the book about history repeating itself? Should I just crack open the Denver Box set and use that as a guideline to the city? The anarchist part of Berlin seems intriguing, but what are anarchists "own affairs"? Nothing I can come up with seems to be very productive. I'm kind of glad the corps came in and kicked them out of part of the city; at least there's some reason to the rhyme with them. If you manage to get into the middle of Germany, you may find some interesting ways to pass the time. Badisch-Pfalz is an excellent launching point into the SOX region. Find those mutant critters, and scout out places for S-K to build biohazard labs. And when you're done with that, there's an escaped imprisoned elected prime minister on the loose. Just watch out for the massive amounts of military troops and mercs. (This section also mentions Ramstein, where my parents used to work, and Kaiserslautern, where I used to roller skate. Fond memories, guys.) Franconia looks like a typical sarariman getaway, with all the possibilities that that implies. But Nuremberg gives us another thing to think about: research labs. Another opportunity for a two-fer, maybe? Extraction in the morning, theft in the afternoon. (Or extraction in the evening instead, if you think you're just that damn good.) Hesse-Nassau is another getaway for the corp types, and the book even acknowledges that it's similar to, but not exactly like Franconia. Discerning GMs can understand the difference and tailor their runs to each area. And check out the universities in the area while you're there. Lots of up-and-comers for the corps can be seen. Where's Westphalia? If you said "in the west," you've got amazing reasoning skills. Seriously, this place looks like it's about to combust because of a favorite concept loved by us all: religion. We've got liberal catholics, conservative catholics, and...meat barons? Yes, they wield power too. All hail the mighty rib roast. No mention of the Templar in this section, but maybe it was just assumed they'd have an interest here? Westrhine-Luxembourg appears to be a skirmish between Rhonabwy and Lofwyr currently, which appears to be the most excitement here since the orichalcum rush is now in the rear-view mirror (and wasn't as profitable for the area as they hoped it might be). The SOX doesn't get touched on much, but it got a fair amount back in Target: Wastelands. The big deal currently seems to be a possible dragon's hoard, which may or may not exist. The big news in the Black Forest region, aside from their famous cake, is that and APB has been posted for their monarch. He's a troll, which ordinarily means that he'd be tough to hide, but in a kingdom full of them...He was officially reported missing on July 21, 2061, which means he's been gone longer than that. Did the new Chancellor have anything to do with it? Only time will tell. Wurttemberg's got some racial problems. I guarantee that the "quarantine camps" didn't endear the government to the changelings. Most of them scampered off to the Troll Kingdom, so maybe they're just happy to be somewhere else. Stuttgart looks to be to the music industry what Los Angeles is to trideo. Plenty of megacorp influence, and plenty of opportunity. If you wanna chill and just catch a concert, that's a possibility too. Bavaria looks like a mish-mosh of occurances. We've got policlub terrorism, SURGE issues, another Renraku screw-up, Munich shadow opportunities, a blurb about the dragon Nebelherr, and Marienbad-related stuff. Enough choices for you? The chapter closes out with a focus on three hot-spots. First up is Karlsruhe. We already heard earlier about the fantastic amount of military personnel in the area. But apparently, what we've got on our hands is a mana focus. There's a big secret to this city, and GMs on the cutting edge of the Shadowrun timeline can make their own decision for how this will play out. Lots of magic-related groups are scampering about, and we've even got the Freemasons on our hands again. The Nord-Rhine-Ruhr metroplex is S-K central. Plenty of opportunities for runs for or against the Golden One. Especially against, as there are plenty of employers in the area now. And if you really feel like doing syndicate stuff, well, that's an option too. I'm not sure what to make of Frankfurt. I get the feeling that a lot of what isn't being said occurred in Shockwellen. To me, there isn't enough to go on to create runs. Obviously, some GMs will create their own version of events, but this last section seems very devoid of specific information. Keep reading. I'm just about to get to Austria. :) We start with entrepreneur Hans Dechant, a modern Walt Disney. Walt never had to deal with a large corporation run by a Dragon, however. Dechant, amazingly, kept dodging bullets, then finally sold his kickass media company to Mitsuhama. This is a really big deal. (By the way, did anyone else chuckle to see someone by the name of "Falco" posting"?) We've got a new nationalist political party headed by a Habsburg, and the ties to MCT are incredibly overwhelming. Comet fun-ness in 2061 led to two provinces coming back into the fold, after having tried their hand at going it alone. Tourism will only get you so far, bucky-boy. What do we have now? Japanese citizens can now enter Austria with just their passport, increasing the amount of racists already residing in the area. Not just legal Japanese citizens are in Austria now. The Yakuza have made inroads, and if you didn't understand it before, you have to by this point. And the Yakuza are already not playing nice with small cells of of gangsters. No, not Seoulpa Rings! Strizzis. The most important city in Austria is Vienna, and it's got multiple-personality disorder. Let's check 'em out. North and West is classic Vienna. Cafes, restaurants, wineyards, and other tourist trappings. South was the South Vienna Special Prison, but that kind of ended in 2059 when security disappeared, and the walled-off schmucks went to town. Now, it looks to be the foundation for a new MCT business district, but there appear to be a couple small roadblocks still in the way. The East has a walled-off section, too. Again, it's the corps trying to distance themselves from the anarchists. (Those pesky anarchists! Why won't they go away?!) Transdanubia is the realm of the corps (and don't try your shitty illegal passes here; get the good stuff), whilst Danube Island is the hotbed of anti-government thought. It's become more than that, apparently, but no one wants to make any kind of move. There's more to Austria than just Vienna. Honest. Remember the two provinces that went away, and came back? They have names. Vorarlberg and Tyrol. There's not a lot of info about them that's useful for current runs, but anyone who wants to re-enact the years of 2061-2062, it's all laid out for you. Salzburg is both the name of a province and a city. The city also declared independence, but hasn't officially come back into the fold. And the province is sort of following the city's lead. Remember the Grand Tour that was mentioned in a previous book? I can't find the reference right now, but Salzburg is one of the stops on the party train. All you face characters, this is your chance to shine. Upper Austria is home to Linz, basically a Saeder-Krupp enclave. Some of you might have reasoned that Detroit was Arestown or Quebec City was Cross and no other, but Linz is totally S-K. Carinthia just doesn't seem like a fun place to go. Toxic earth, land mines, and ever-present background count make for the opposite of happy fun time. And the toxic zones might be increasing. What luck! Styria is not of any interest to anyone who isn't in a merc campaign, and even then, it's only useful as the home base of operations. Most of the action will be taking place in surrounding provinces. Lower Austria is where Vienna sits in the middle of. Interesting stuff here, outside of the capital. There are clashes between nobles and neo-druids, sprawling Habsburg estates, and a private Protestant organization. The latter, by the way, has a leader who's got a bone to pick with the ruling family. Burgenland appears to be a smuggler's paradise, and an excellent place to lay low after a job. Final thoughts: Man, this review took longer to type than I thought it would. I have to admit, doing a cursory review wouldn't be very fulfilling, but this is tough. But I'll stick with it. I keep wanting to rush back to Year of the Comet, Target: Wastelands, and other books to cross-reference stuff. While that may be time-consuming, it's also a good thing. It means that the books are working together, and that the story that's being told is one that I want to follow. I can also see how the book is setting the stage for Loose Alliances, and I'm anticipating seeing some of these policlubs and groups again, with more stuff fleshed out about them. Some of the areas got a great deal of attention and run possibilities (like Bavaria), and some places got zilch (like Saxony). Not every place can or should be interesting to a shadowrunner, admittedly. I'm not sure what to make of Berlin. I was half-joking about the comparison to Denver, but that means I was also half-serious. One of the great allures of Denver to me was that it was six (now five) governments all trying to administrate this one random sprawl. Berlin's a little different because they're walling off anarchists and dividing the city up, but with megacorps in place of governments. I guess it's a variation on a theme, and different enough that I'm okay with it for now. But if Feuerschwinge comes back from the dead and descends on Berlin, making it "his domain," I will have to bust some heads. Fans of MCT and the Yakuza will find plenty to do in Austria. Anyone who wants to go the other way and play "metas getting out of Dodge" will find it easy to do. SOTA: 2063 made the merc important again, and MET2000 is getting a lot of talk in this book. Europe is the best opportunity for a mercenary campaign right now, bar none. And I haven't even finished reading the book! For the sections of Germany and Austria, 7.5/10. I think some areas could have used at least another paragraph, or some shadowtalk to make them seem interesting. And there's nothing specific in the Game Information section about Karlsruhe, in the style of Target: Awakened Lands. I expected some explanation, with possibly some game mechanics. I haven't decided if I'll be going by country or grouping couples together from hereon. Maybe some of both, depending on length. Czech Republic is definitely next, however. We'll see what's going on with Marienbad. |
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Jul 22 2004, 08:31 AM
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#16
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 515 Joined: 10-April 04 From: Chicago, IL...Ich vermisse Deutschland. Member No.: 6,230 |
To speak on Austria and Germany: There was a lot more going on in Walzer, Punks und Schwarzes IC. The Austria section had to sum up about 50 pages and update it for use.
Germany: 2 books: DidSII and Shockwaves. Check out the Shockwaves thread; it has a lot of the interesting info on that campaign where it is referenced in SoE. DidSII looks at every single province; each one has at least 10 pages (the whole book is something like 300+ pages). It has interesting things, such as the Shedim summoning in Westfalen, a larger breakdown of Renraku in Munich, a deeper look at Hamburg, the real vampire scene in Leipzig-Halle, the deuling nobles and their petty struggles in Sachsen/Saxony, more on the SOX and Karlsruhe, how SURGE and the comet affected each province, introduction of the really hidden Stasi and Nazis, plus all the German companies. Again, the author had to sum all that up plus update it for both English speaking and German fans. For me and probably others who can read it, it is the definitive book for Germany. Don |
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Jul 22 2004, 04:07 PM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921 |
I did want to check the Shockwaves thread, but I didn't want that knowledge to influence my review. I wanted to let the material of SoE stand on its own and see where it took me. |
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Jul 22 2004, 11:15 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 858 Joined: 25-August 03 From: Braunschweig, North German League, Allied German States Member No.: 5,537 |
Hannover is not only the capital of the North German League but of the whole AGS! Unfortunately, even though this was established back in DidS1 (1992) Hannover (the capital!) has been only sparsely described in the German books. Is there more info in SoE besides "it's there, it's the capital, it's very tidy and has much security"?
How is the fight against the anarchists described in SoE and when did it take place? In the German books the anarchist rule ended in 2055 but later English books (like Target Smuggler Havens, set in 2059) still talked about anarchist Berlin (I guess because the authors didn't know about the German changes.) |
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Jul 22 2004, 11:57 PM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921 |
Looking back through the book, I notice that it is the capital of the whole country. It's got a circle with a star on the inside, just like Prague and Vienna. I just kind of glazed over it, I guess. I also said Hannover hosts the Cybit fair. Beyond that and the political machinations, not a lot of info.
Well, the only major place the book mentions Berlin is in the Germany timeline. There's also a mention in the text about the corps "brutally overthrowing the anarchist project." |
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Jul 24 2004, 03:14 AM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 326 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Vigo (Spanish Kingdom) Member No.: 1,446 |
:eek: Wow! Now that's a detailed review! Great work summing all up without really spoiling everything to other readers. :)
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Jul 28 2004, 07:02 AM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 1-July 02 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,921 |
And we're back on track. Part 3: Truth and Lies This part deals with the Czech Republic and France. Our lead in-character author is one who would check "Other" on the race box. The centaur who writes the brief past and present look at the Czech Republic has definitely advanced beyond the "hand tools" stage. Reading his intro, you get the sense that he's still in tune with nature, despite his experiences. He's definitely more worldly, good or bad as that may be. "Past Tense" recaps the history given to us from earlier in the book, but with a metahuman reaction to the events. He's very deferential to the great dragons Dunkelzahn and Schwartzkopf, as they seem to have had profoundly affected him. He sets up the rest of the chapter by talking of the universities, "foreign interests", and the culture. Just so you know, Bohemian has a meaning aside from "sipping coffee in a French cafe and talking about art." Bohemia is an actual place, and it's in the Czech Republic. Gypsies started the whole thing, and gypsies are still around. Places of interest abound...as there are many gypsy settlements. A World War II concentration camp is spoken of, which has a signifcant background count for obvious reasons. Prague itself is not similar to other urban sprawls as it doesn't have the gleaming steel and glass towers of commerce running rampant through the city. Moravia is very unlike Bohemia. We're talking Heavy Industry, Genetics, Biotech, and other corporate-type stuff. Ground Zero for this is the city Brno, the capital of the province. Universal-Omnitech was the first to settle and get to business, and their efforts encouraged Saeder-Krupp, Ares, and Mitsuhama to grab some land. Because of corp concerns, the populace has found more ways to divide and unify. Ares workers don't like Saeder-Krupp workers, and it extends beyond the softball field, my friends. Ah, Schwartzkopf's personal concern: Marienbad. The first time this place was ever of interest was during the Orichalcum Rush. Schwartzkopf decided to grant it some protection, and this eventually led to them seceding from the AGS. Marienbad's not a nice place, however. It's very feudal, with multiple warlords fighting over small pieces of land. All in all, Marienbad's a very ugly place to be. Mercs, gypsies, border patrols, and local warlords mixed together only brew calamity. All right, time for magical places you don't want to be caught in. First up is a bone cathedral east of Prague. Correct, human bones were used to build this thing. Yes, I'm disgusted, too. All the helpful info comes from the Shadowtalk. Apparently, the bones are trapping shedim. And there's a mysterious power in the cathedral which may or may not be related to all of this. We've also got some caves that people have been disappearing into, north of Brno. The rocks are swallowing people, says the locals. But few care, because we've got trapped shedim in a cathedral! Rar! On to the capital: Prague. We've got a reluctant street witch giving us the inside story. Synner, I hear the back of a hand works wonders. :) First off, we get a dose of civic pride, telling us how much better than everywhere else Prague is because of the racial acceptance that runs rampant through the city. Basically, Prague as a city is a tapestry, unlike other cities, which are mosaics. Did the metaphor stick? I hope so. Anyway, the big draw here is Charles University. The approach to magic here is Bohemian, although I'm not sure how many cups of coffee it takes to get that way. And yes, Professor Schwartzkopf does teach. Other magic-related groups have an office here, like DIMR and the Faustus Society. Schwartzkopf has been in a bad mood lately. One of the students at the University was murdered in broad daylight. A fairly unique student, which is really saying something in Prague. One thing to keep in mind is how easy it is to grab arcane materials. They're abundant, and prices are on the cheap. Thank competing syndicates for that. Also be aware of a fair-sized group of qabbalists performing their stuff. They may have been responsible for some kick-ass golems roaming around lately. Last but not least is the small section of Prague that was grabbed by the corps. Most of their presence is limited to the thaumaturgical, so they're at least keeping with the theme. S-K and Mitsuhama lead the way here, with Aztechnology, Ares, and Shiawase attempting to establish themselves. L'hexagon has seen some changes over the years. France apparently is now built on a foundation of lies, always a favorite. Let's see what's here. It says here that the nobility has been everpresent and just receded into the background, since 1789. Man, that's a while to be on top. France has always enjoyed going its own way, and that was made clear when the French Catholic Church, with backing from the nobles, opposed the Vatican's stance on magic and metahumans. The Crash and the waves of VITAS did nothing to help the politicos, and the nobles just kept pushing buttons and pulling levers from behind the curtain. Bastille Day in 2029 was the setting for a military takeover, and the Euro Wars cemented their position, moving Antoine D'Orleans into the forefront as a hero and political figure. France tried to play hardball with the AAA corps for a little while, but that ended up not really working, and a consensus was reached, possibly the first setback the French power players had dealt with in a while. As the situation stands now, things aren't so hot. Three 10 AAAs in the place of 8 isn't marvelous to deal with. Syndicate war is never good for helping the public feel safe. Brittany hides behind some mist and makes waves about cutting ties. And the newest President isn't listening to her fellow nobles. France has changed a little in the georgraphy category since the 20th century. The SOX is a no-man's wasteland, Corsica found its freedom, and the Basque part of France went it's own way, possibly to reinvent the game of Jai-Alai. Wanna go to France? Find some documents. Without them, you're boned. Plain and simple. Got slightly menacing cyberware? Boned. Strange magic? Boned. Look like a tourist, but get a linguasoft, for heaven's sake. To fit in, don't mess around with the things that I just said would bone you. I wasn't kidding! The book goes with "Three Estates" so I will too. We first get a quick overview of how the power structure is. Extraterritorial corps negotiate leases with France's economic committee. This isn't much of an issue for French corps, or for Saeder-Krupp. (Insert comment about dealing with dragons here.) There's more interesting stuff about conducting business in France, like having to choose between paying high taxes and doing things normally versus letting the government deal with the welfare situation of the corp's employees while gaining a lot of information in the process. The AAAs are starting to bring more weight to bear upon the French, because they think their system blows. The First Estate are the nobles. And boy howdy, are there a lot of them. And they're all mega-pissed that France is a part of the NEEC. Could be bad for the way they rule from behind the scenes, don'tcha know. There are dozens of "Houses" in France, but only the major players get touched upon. House D'Orleans has as its head the same guy who's the war hero. This house also has the "official heir to the throne," which would matter more if France was a monarchy, but still matters some. House Bourbon-Anjou is a wing of the Spanish noble Bourbon family. If you'll believe it, this house has the "natural heir to the throne." Yeah, my head's starting to spin, too. And they don't like D'Orleans. House Rohan (save the LotR references) resides in the land of mist, Brittany. Would they throw away their influence in France to take part in the making of a new country? It's entirely possible. House Rochefort has friendly ties to D'Orleans. Nicolas de Rochefort is someone you don't want to get into a debate with. Aurelie de Paladines is the country's new President, but we don't get a mention of what House she was aligned with. Her biggest sin appears to be pulling France into the NEEC. She leans heavily on a dwarf divinator by the name of Yohann de Kervelec. He runs the French Diviners and Mediums Guild. These guys are pros at what they do, no two ways about it. Time for Church. As stated earlier, the French Catholic Church split from Rome when this whole business about metas and magic started. Sort of like how Rome has the Knights of the Templar, the FCC has an order called Manus Dei. What's left is a lot of shadowtalk about how the cardinal has been replaced, warrior monks summoning powerful magic, and the Templars poking around. France has corps too, and I'm not talking about the Big Three automakers. Noble ties to corps are very tight, and these guys all get educated at the same places. France is downright incestuous. Anyway, we've got Aerospatiale SA, which sounds like an aerospace company and actually is. Esprit Industries is responsible for much of France's defense. This would be much easier to accomplish with fewer shareholding factions. Intracorp runs are definitely not out of the question with this one. Hermes Eurocom is the corp in charge of communications. If you ever want to joke about how the French have poor communication skills, blame these guys. Will a Scandanavian prospect unseat this local corp? Index-Axa has everyone's money. Because they're a financial corporation. And they're not afraid to hold significant shares in other corps. More incest. Yeesh. Spinrad Industries used to be here, until 2051. Then shit happened, and now they're in Portugal. Organized crime makes up a fourth Estate. Things were relatively quiet for a while, but the Batukhtina Vory has punched the Marseille Milieu in the mouth and proclaimed "From Russia, With Love." Now we've got what we in the industry like to call "escalation." Even the aristo-controlled media has to report on this mob war, since things have gone so far. Corsica is no longer a part of the French family thanks to another shot from the past. The Bonaparte name lives on in Guillaume Bonaparte, the head of the Corsican Mafia and president-for-life of Free Corsica. Time for sprawl goodness. Paris has a lot of people. A significant percentage of those people make sure everyone else feels safe touristing around. You have to know that because downtown Paris is nice and shiny, there are portions of it which are dark and deviant. Some things never change. Who wants a chipped-out flesh doll? Marseille's an interesting place. We've got S-K here up the wazoo, as well as French mafia. Specifically, the ones who just got their balls kicked by the Russians. Marseille may even be the home of S-K's delta clinic, depending on whose campaign you're running in. Lille is all about smuggling and counterfeiting. It's really a swell deal. They can smuggle you in, and give you papers to make sure no one looks twice at you. It's like going to a store where you can buy guns and alcohol. Wait, some Wal-Marts do that. Anyway, the Vory is big here. The second-in-command of the French Vory is running the show here for the most part. Did you know there was an earthquake in France in 2043? Well, there was. And Nice went independent, and hasn't looked back since. Most of France isn't racist. The ones that are end up here. It's a nice place, if you're human. Hotels, casinos, and other attraction for rich humans abound. Finally, we've got Strange French Magic. Brittany, as I said before, has a mist hanging around. It's not your normal fog. It's been around in some form or fashion since 2023 (celebrate 40 years of fog!), and it screws with people. Makes them mad, or even disappear. And people still live there. Can you believe it? Among them are some faeries known as the Korrigan, who don't seem very affected by it. As The Laughing Man says, "The Mist doesn't affect these Korrigan, you say? That's awfully convenient." I concur. Druids have been battling the mist for some time, but their early success has given way to recent failure. Also of interest is the Forest of Broceliande, which is a strange place. Here, trees talk to druids. One has to wonder what the hell they have to say. ("Nice robe, douchebag!") Auvergne has volcanoes. In a bad way. This might have gotten glossed over when Ryumyo appeared on Mount Fuji, but in 2011, these volcanoes erupted, destroying Clermont-Ferrand and making a lot of land unusable. They quieted down in 2035, but nothing good lasts forever. Trying to take the opportunity while it was there, S-K set up research stations under the LAVA (ha ha!) project. Put simply, they found that the earth was difficult to astrally project through, and some interesting plant life was also discovered. When the comet passed by, however, the volcanoes woke back up. Sort of. Astral lava spilled out, creating a hazard for spirits in the area. In 2062, the physical caught up with the astral, and the LAVA labs became a bad place to be. They now reside abandoned, with attempts to recover stuff from inside taking place all the time. Final Thoughts: The Czech Republic really got the short end of the stick. Any land with a great dragon has to seem somewhat important, but there's not enough going on of interest. I'm not sure what to make of the Marienbad situation. It seems like very little has changed in the region now that they're Czech instead of German. The biggest draw has to be Prague, and players are going to want to take advantage of its excellent value on magical items. Who knows? While they're hunting around looking for a bargain, maybe they'll find an adventure. The Czech Republic just doesn't seem like it's set up to hold an ongoing campaign. A few adventures that might take a couple of sessions each, but not a campaign. France is full of stuff. The incestuous nature of France is brought out in so many ways, and while France isn't a House of Cards just yet, it's definitely on its way. It seems that aside from Esprit, the French Corps aren't going to be hitting each other. Their business concerns may be related, but they certainly don't overlap enough for it to be any more than a small nuisance. They might try poking at the AAAs, and vice versa, though. An entire campaign could be made just by doing runs centering around the nobles. The mob stuff has been touched on before, and there's plenty to do regarding this new flare-up. Brittany seems like a place that the players might wake up in, not willingly go into. Auvergne is very limited in what its purpose is, but that's fine. S-K has plenty of stuff to do all over Europe, and coming over here for a couple of runs into the LAVA labs would be a good change of pace. Czech Republic: 6/10 France: 9/10 Next time, those crazy Eye-talians and Portugal. Hey, we'll get to Poland later. I want to do some Romance first! |
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Jul 28 2004, 10:19 AM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 265 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Bangkok (sometimes Paris) Member No.: 332 |
Thank you for the praise. It's greatly appreciated. Check out future SR books for developments of some of the ideas introduced in the French chapter of SoE. I hope you will like them as much. |
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Jul 28 2004, 01:38 PM
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#23
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 515 Joined: 10-April 04 From: Chicago, IL...Ich vermisse Deutschland. Member No.: 6,230 |
This is where knowing some European history helps. D'Orleans were the last king, the citizen's king brought in in 1830 and tossed out in 1848, if memory serves. Their claim seems based on "we were there last, so it belongs to us". The Bourbons have a pretty good claim; it's the family that spawned Louis XIV, XV, XVI, Charles some number. They took the French throne back a while around the 1600s when Henry V married Margarette d'Anjou and converted to Catholicism. They're also the Spanish Royals due to the war of the Spanish Succession, which placed Louis XIV's nephew on the Spanish throne with the provision that Spain and France can never unify (people were afraid that an immortal Louis XIV would take over both countries; the guy was around 60+ and showed no signs of stopping, not to mention that he had outlived multiple foreign opponents). The current king of Spain, and probably the king's succession mentioned in SoE's Spain chapter are part of the struggles of the Bourbon family. Don |
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Jul 28 2004, 03:09 PM
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#24
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,756 Joined: 11-December 02 From: France Member No.: 3,723 |
Something like that.
Actually, the Orléans' claim is not based at all on Louis-Philippe reign. Louis-Philippe was chosen by the House of Representatives because the regular heir, Henri, grandon of Charles X (himself grandson of Louis XV, and brother of Louis XVI and XVIII) was a jerk from their point of view. Since, the line of Charles X is extinct. The oldest living male descendant of the royal line has since been in the Bourbon-Anjou family, descending from Louis XIV. But they were kings of Spain, and thus the Treaty of Utrecht prevented them from claiming the French crown. And without them, then the Orléans, descending from Louis XIII, have the rightful heir. With the bourbon-Anjou claim it gets technical. The provisions of the Treaty d'Utrecht forced Philippe (Louis XVI grandson, not his nephew) to abandon all claim for him and his descendance upon the Crown of France, and that no one could be King of France and Spain at the same time. The Bourbon-Anjou first argument is called "indisponibilité de la couronne" ("crown's unavailability") : one can only decide for himself to be king of France or not, he can't decide it for his descendance. So Philippe descendance could claim the Crown of France, but still not at the same time than the Crown of Spain, as the Treaty of Utrecht still legally stated it. When the line of Charles X, and thus Louis XV is extinct, the Bourbon-Anjou become the oldest male branch of the French royal house, before the Orléans. But the legit heir automatically get the 'living' Crown of Spain, while the Crown of France is a virtual title(and thus not really interesting to claim it). But in the early XXth Century the heir to the Crown of Spain, Jaime, abdicated for a completely unrelated reason (making his younger brother Juan Carlos the current king of Spain). This marriage prevented him from claiming the Spanish Crown, but not the French one. In turn, in Spain there's no such rules as the "indisponibilité de la couronne" so his descendants were stripped forever of their claim over the Crown of Spain. As the elder male of the French royal House, and as they're not crowned King of Spain, and never will be, the descendants of Jaime can claim the Crown of France... [EDIT] I realize I made a mistake. Prince Alfonso was the elder brother and didn't renounce to marry his Cuban commoner, but he died in 1937. It's his younger brother Jaime who renounced to the throne (I now can't remember why), paving the way for their younger brother Juan Carlos to be the King of Spain. |
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Jul 29 2004, 02:38 AM
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#25
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 326 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Vigo (Spanish Kingdom) Member No.: 1,446 |
Don't you love noblemen's politics? :love:
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 25th April 2024 - 01:14 AM |
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